This invention relates to the coloring of glass fiber articles such as fabrics or other articles containing glass fibers alone or with other fibers or materials.
Glass fiber articles are difficult to color with pigmented compositions so that the resulting color resists removal during laundering (washfastness) unless an organosilane compound is present in the coloring composition. Such compositions conventionally also contain a polymeric binder, the primary function of which is to hold or bind together the pigment particles in the composition. The organosilane additives have functional groups, such as epoxy and amino, which react with the glass of the article to be colored. The organosilane therefore is said to "couple" the pigment-binder composition to the glass fiber article.
Organosilane coupling agents are expensive and must be prediluted before addition to a coloring bath. To date, no effective substitute has been found for the silane coupling agents, although from the standpoints of economy and processability, it would be desirable to entirely eliminate such coupling agents so long as good washfastness of the colored glass fiber article is obtained.